


Asterisks

by ExpectoPadoughnut



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Grimmauld Place, Hogwarts Fifth Year, M/M, Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter), snupin - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-04-08 13:25:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14106351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExpectoPadoughnut/pseuds/ExpectoPadoughnut
Summary: Remus happens across Severus one night in the attic above Grimmauld Place.





	Asterisks

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this some time ago and happened upon it tonight. I reworked it a little and I'm gifting it to the Snupin community. I don't know if there are many of us left out there, but I hope this finds you and warms you, and reminds you why we love these boys.

I wasn’t expecting him to be here; of all people, I was expecting him to be nowhere near here. It was my spot though, not by entitlement or anything, but I liked to come here when I needed to think or smell fresh air without hurting Sirius’ feelings.

He was seated on one of the old muggle milk crates: forearms dangling across his knees, his face hidden behind raven hair; a burning cigarette balanced between forefinger and thumb is what surprised me more than his presence. Much of his face was concealed by the carpet of dark hair that he was hiding behind. The moonlight that shone through the skylight cast an eerie glow across the old attic; it suited him.

“If you’re going to loiter, can you do it in view? I’m understandably paranoid.” His voice oozed its usual cynicism and I, typically, smiled at the familiarity in his tone.

“I don’t intend to intrude. I usually come here you see and it’s usually empty.” I don’t intend to leave either; surely there is room for two beneath the skylight. He doesn’t budge, and in the height of war, what has a werewolf got to lose but nothing? So what difference would it make if I should edge closer to the vacant crate across from him?

He didn’t look up when I sat and I took that as silent acceptance. Maybe he wanted the company more than he let on. It was only when he lifted the cigarette to his lips that I caught a glimpse of his face - he looked tired. War had aged us all, but the moonlight as I know too well has ways of revealing what we want to conceal most. Dark rings encased his eyes and the left one, now that I could see better, had a purple hue beneath it. I was sure there was a similar shade of purple in the corner of his bottom lip, but I didn't dare pry. 

“You’re staring.”

He didn’t sound angry. I found I didn't care if he was. “I didn’t mean to.” I really didn’t but it felt like I was seeing him for the first time in over a decade and a half, even though I had seen him periodically over the last 6 months. 

He grunted.

“Why are you awake, Severus?”

He sighed uncharacteristically and took a drag from the cigarette between his fingers. “Can’t sleep,” he answered quietly… uncharacteristically.

Stars look like asterisks. I came to that conclusion many years ago, soon after graduating from Hogwarts, when I spent my nights awake with hunger because which sane person employed werewolves?

So I told him. “Stars are like asterisks.”

The corners of his mouth twitched. I have never seen Severus Snape smile as an adult; he came close tonight though.

“Asterisks without meaning,” he mumbled, raising his eyes to look out the skylight and into the night sky. I noticed his eyes weren't black but a dark brown, like the earth after a heavy rain when all the richness of life and nature and freedom flowed to the surface. I wondered if he, just like me, looked to the stars because they were the ones with all the freedom. Did he feel jealous of those burning pieces of the past? I wanted to ask him if knew that stars didn't actually twinkle and that it was all down to our particle filled atmosphere...

But there was a faint up-turn in the corner of his mouth and I didn’t question it; sometimes war did funny things to people, like allowing two enemies on the same side to sit quietly beneath a trillion asterisks with no explanation.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading.


End file.
